CF: Tell us a bit about yourself, what is your background and where does your interest in illustration / animation come from?
I grew up in an English seaside town called Brighton. I think my interest in animation started from a love of film making and story telling in general. Growing up no one really told me that you could have a career in drawing or illustration, so it was always just something I did for fun, so it was a revelation when I realised it was a viable career choice.
CF: Were there any specific books or cartoons growing up that you recall as an influence on your animation style?
Amongst the usual 90’s cartoons, I had this collection of short animations by the Bolex brothers recorded on VHS. They make really odd, quite terrifying stop motion animations which scared the hell out of me as a kid, but the impression they left has definitely been positive!
CF: How’s the experience of working at Animade? What sort of projects do you get to tackle there?
It’s really great to work in a team with people who have such diverse skills and talents. When we’re working on a project it’s great to see what each person brings to the table and what you can learn from each other. We also have a brilliant interactive side to the studio which adds loads of opportunities for collaboration for projects like Frankensim. There’s lots of different commercial projects that come through and we try to find time for personal work in-between.
“Growing up no one really told me that you could have a career in drawing or illustration”
CF: What is your lavorite thing about living in London?
All my mates live here.
CF: If you could soundtrack your work, what would you choose?
A low electrical humming.
CF: Do you have any dream projects or any other formats you’d like to explore going forward?
I really want to do more interactive, narrative based projects. I’m currently working on some designs for a new game which is really exciting and I’m trying to incorporate more 3D into my work. It’s tricky finding the time to do these non-commercial projects, but the time I do get is very precious.
